The chapel's stairs shook under Kane's boots before he'd even reached the bottom, dust raining down as the chamber below groaned with pressure that hadn't been present days earlier.
"It's worse," Kane said, reaching the chamber floor, torch raised toward the seal.
The cracks had spread further, dark light pouring through in steady streams now instead of faint pulses, and the resonant voice hit Kane's mind the moment he stepped close, stronger than ever before.
*Ashbourne blood. You've come to finish it, one way or another.*
"Not finish it," Kane said aloud, gritting through the pressure. "Contain it. Same as my ancestors."
Talyn descended behind him, followed by Senna and Lira, all three carrying the ritual components they'd gathered hastily from the archive's instructions, dried herb
